Connor
Ratonhnhaké:ton, also known as Connor, is an Assassin from Colonial America, a Native American of the Mohawk tribe. The death of his mother and growing concern over the actions of the colonists drove him to join the Assassin Brotherhood, and caused him to form friendships with colonists that would become important figures in the war for independence from Britain. Connor became a godsend for the revolution, but he found himself pitted against his own father, and eventually discovered the burning realization that the colonists were not on his side. In his attempts to preserve and protect his people and his ideals, he was forced to watch the things he held dearest crumble before his eyes. Connor was apped by the player of the Uber Ethereal on October 21st, 2013, the first to do so. Background Connor was born in 1756, the son of Kaniehtí:io, also known as Ziio, a Mohawk woman, and Haytham Kenway, a British noble and a Templar. Haytham, sent by the Order to discover a site built by the Ones That Came Before, had interacted with Ziio in order to find this site. While the search ultimately lead to a dead end, the two grew close during their adventures, sparking a brief romance. However, Ziio valued freedom and choice, even at the cost of personal gain and safety, while a Templar like Haytham held an opposite view. This caused her to break off their relationship, but not before Haytham had unknowingly impregnated her. As though knowing that her son would lead a hard life, she named him Ratonhnhaké:ton -- "A life that has been scratched." For the first few years of his life, Ratonhnhaké:ton was an intelligent, happy child. His mother taught him a variety of subjects, including English, and when not studying, he was playing games with friends, especially his best friend Kanen'tó:kon. His life changed forever when he was four years old. While playing a game of hide & seek on the edges of his village's territory, he was ambushed by a group of white men, lead by one Charles Lee. They insulted him and threatened to beat him if he didn't reveal the location of his village. Ratonhnhaké:ton held strong, though, and swore that he would come back for them later. Naturally, the men only laughed at the sight of a little boy trying to threaten them, and they knocked him out. Ratonhnhaké:ton awoke to find his village in flames. Rushing to his longhouse, he found his mother trapped in the collapsing structure. Despite his best efforts, he could do nothing to save her, and Ziio could do nothing but try to comfort his son as his heart broke. Just as he was dragged away by other villagers, the longhouse fell apart, crushing Ziio in front of her son's eyes. The boy became distant after that, no longer the innocent, excited soul he was before. He still held pride for his heritage and his people, but even by his early teens, he was growing increasingly worried over the possibility of the colonists one day driving them from their land. When he was thirteen, he received a vision from a spirit, warning him of a grim future that would come, one that would see his people in chains -- if he didn't intervene. The spirit showed him a symbol, the symbol of the Assassins, and when he showed this to the village elder, she directed him to a mansion to the east, near the shore. She gave the boy her permission to leave the village to pursue the destiny the spirit showed him. Eventually, Ratonhnhaké:ton found this mansion, which he would come to know as Davenport Manor. The manor's lone resident, an old Caribbean man named Achilles Davenport, was one of the only remaining members of the Colonial Assassins after they were hunted down by the Templars years earlier. Because of this, the man rejected Ratonhnhaké:ton's pleas to train him. Up until he watched the boy slaughter a large group of bandits that had been targeting his home, at least. After that, he reluctantly decided to give him a chance, taking him under his wing. He also revealed the identities of the Templar leaders in the colonies: The men that had ambushed him on the day of his mother's death, all lead by Haytham Kenway, his father. Ratonhnhaké:ton, already a skilled climber and hunter, quickly learned the skills of an Assassin, much to Achilles' silent surprise. Still, the boy was naive of how society was in the colonies, unable to grasp why a man with dark skin like Achilles couldn't just run into town and buy materials to repair his home. One day, though, the two traveled to Boston to do just that, with Achilles sending the boy to purchase the wood. Realizing that he would benefit from having a non-Native alias, Achilles gave him his new name, Connor, after his late son. The purchase went off without a hitch, but that night turned out to be the night of the Boston Massacre. Connor saw his father in the crowd, and he and Achilles noticed a man with a musket sneaking into the alleys. Following him, Connor realized that he was going to fire a shot and spark a violent reaction out of the tense situation, and killed him. It was for naught, as Charles Lee fired a shot from an opposite roof, and for his efforts, Haytham pointed at him and convinced the British that he had enticed the violence. Connor managed to escape, and didn't get far before he met a man named Samuel Adams. Sam Adams helped guide Connor through the city without being seen, and taught him how to clear his name and cover his tracks. Connor promised to repay the man, and in a few years, he would. Returning to the Davenport Homestead, Connor received his Hidden Blades for his success in Boston, then rescued a drowning logger who had been working nearby. He managed to convince the loggers to settle down on the Homestead, the beginnings of what would one day become a tight-knit but plentiful community, which Connor supported and whom supported him in turn. Their settling proved to be perfectly timed. Achilles showed Connor the Aquila, an Assassin ship that had nearly been sunk years before. Much to the delight of its old captain, Robert Faulkner, the ship was repaired with wood from the loggers. Faulkner took Connor on the Aquila's maiden voyage, where the Aquila got cannons, a crew, and Connor was proven to be a natural captain, a skill that would prove vital later. Upon his return, Achilles officially inducted him into the Brotherhood. Now an official Assassin, Connor planned to pursue the Templars. In his early twenties, Kanen'tó:kon came to the Homestead, bringing grim news: A Templar named William Johnson was going to buy the land of their people. Outraged, Connor took Kanen'tó:kon's tomahawk and drove it into a pillar outside the manor, a Mohawk sign of declaring war. He then took off to Boston, where he hoped that Sam Adams could lead him to Johnson. Johnson, was it turned out, ran a ring of importing and selling British tea, which, due to taxes on the tea, was much to the colonists' displeasure. Sam directed Connor to ruin the tea operations, and the Assassin found a potential recruit for the Brotherhood in the process, the first of at least six Connor would train himself. This eventually accumulated in Connor aiding in the Boston Tea Party, clearing the way for the colonists and killing the guards that came to stop it. He was given the honor of dropping the last box of tea into the bay, which he did while staring smugly at Johnson, who was watching from another pier. He was certain that Johnson was ruined financially, but Achilles warned him that Templars were very resourceful. He was right. Six months later, Kanen'tó:kon returned with news that Johnson had obtained the money again, and was meeting with his people to discuss purchase as they spoke. Outraged, Connor had his friend lead him to Johnson's estate, where he began to threaten the lives of the Mohawks in order to convince them to sell their land. Before he could make good on his threats, Connor assassinated him. With his last breaths, Johnson claimed that he was trying to protect the Natives from the colonists who truly didn't care for them, and for the first time, Connor realized that he might have made a grave mistake. Sometime later, Connor received a letter from the Patriots, requesting that he aid a man named Paul Revere. When the name of John Pitcairn, a Templar, was mentioned, he arrived posthaste. Pitcairn, he discovered, was leading a charge on Lexington and Concord, in search for rebel safehouses and weapon caches. After protecting Revere on the Midnight Ride, he joined the rebel army in Lexington, and was there when the first shots were fired. It was chaos, with the rebels breaking apart and retreating to Concord almost immediately. Connor helped organize the forces, grinding the British advance to a halt by guiding the colonists into shooting the British before they could even level their muskets. Pitcarin escaped to live another day, and Connor was left shell shocked by all of the death that had occurred on that day. When Connor heard of the Battle of Bunker Hill, he moved in to assist right away. There, he personally swam into the bay to destroy two ships that were pinning the rebels down with cannonballs, and returned just in time to hear Israel Putnam's rousing speech. Sighting Pitcairn on a hill across the battlefield, Connor dashed right through the middle of the bullets, chaos, and death in order to reach that hill, then made his way around and used the trees to sneak up on Pitcairn and kill him from above. Pitcairn damned Connor with his final words, labeling him to blame for all of the deaths that would occur during the war. Before fleeing, Connor found a letter on Pitcairn. Reading it with Israel, they discovered that it was a plot to assassinate George Washington. Connor had already met Washington, back when the man had been declared Commander-in-Chief. Charles Lee had been vying for the position, and the Templars were not amused that he had not obtained it. Following clues, Connor tracked down Thomas Hickey, the Templar assigned to carry out the deed. During a botched up assassination attempt and a chase through New York's streets, both Connor and Hickey were thrown into Bridewell Prison, under suspicion for Hickey's counterfeit ring and, eventually, the plot on Washington's life. The Templars used their influence to move Hickey to another block of the prison, in an elaborate plan to trap Connor. It worked: Connor escaped his cell and sneaked his way to Hickey's, only to find the prison warden murdered on Hickey's bed. He was trapped by Hickey and Charles Lee, and it was here that they realized that Connor was the boy they had attacked all those years ago. Lee took delight in this, especially as he explained to Connor how they were pinning the blame for the warden's death and the assassination plot on him, and he was set to walk to the gallows the next day. They knocked him out, and he awoke just in time to be sent to the gallows. But he was not alone. Achilles and his assassin recruits were in the crowed, and just as Connor's feet was taken out from under him, the rope was cut, and he was handed his tomahawk. While the recruits caused a panic in the crowd, Hickey saw that Connor was free, and attempted a mad dash to carry out his orders on killing Washington, who was present for Connor's execution. Connor caught him before he could, and Hickey spent his final moments taunting Connor, for he, a man who only desired booze and women, lived happily, while an idealistic man like Connor would never be satisfied. Connor's name was then cleared by Israel Putnam, who declared him a war hero. In the winter of 1777, Connor had grown no closer to ending the Templar threat against Washington. Against the wishes of Achilles, he traveled to Valley Forge, intending to warn the man of the group out for his life. Once there, he was distracted when Washington told him that Benjamin Church, another Templar, had likely stolen supplies meant for his men. Deciding to investigate, Connor followed the trail, which lead him to an old abandoned church. There, he was set upon by Haytham, who was now fully aware that the man who had caused him so much trouble was his son. Rather than kill him, Haytham proposed that, since Church had betrayed the Order, they work together to find him. Wary, Connor agreed. Their search led them to a brewery in New York, where Haytham used Connor's status as his son to allow them both entry. While hunting down Church, Haytham inquired about Ziio. He was stunned to learn that she had been killed years before, and denied Connor's claims that he had caused it, claiming that he had ordered his men to not lay a single finger on the village. Before the subject could continue, they discovered that they had fallen for a ruse and had to escape the brewery, then quickly moved to chase a rapidly escaping Church with the Aquila. They succeeded days later, immobilized the ship and then invaded it. Church was brutally beaten by Haytham for his betrayals, but he left his son to kill the man. Despite the awkwardness of it all, Connor found himself hoping that this partnership could continue. He wished to form an actual bond with his father, and even let the idea of an Assassin/Templar alliance capture him. Achilles criticized this, arguing that Assassins and Templars would never see eye to eye enough to cooperate. Furious at the criticism, he left to meet with Haytham again, this time at Valley Forge to discuss British movements with Washington. While there, Haytham snuck into Washington's tent, and pulled out orders to attack Connor's village, since some of the villagers were cooperating with the British to drive back the colonists. Haytham even accused Washington of giving identical orders on the day Connor's mother died. Stunned and betrayed, Connor expressed his rage at Washington. Then, he rejected his father's attempts to reach out to him, accusing him of knowing the truth all along, and waiting until the perfect moment specifically to control him. Connor grabbed a horse and abandoned the two men, desperately moving to protect his people. Killing messengers delivering the okay to attack, Connor found a giant rebel force gathered outside his village. Sneaking into his old home, he discovered that a group of men, lead by Kanen'tó:kon, were moving in to attack the colonists, which would surely spark a bloody battle. Moving quickly, he knocked out all of the Natives. Except for one. Kanen'tó:kon ambushed him, roaring accusations that Connor had betrayed his people, that he had been swayed by their hollow promises. This information, and Kanen'tó:kon's violent desire to fight the colonists, had been sparked by one man: Charles Lee. To survive, Connor had no choice but to kill Kanen'tó:kon, all while his best friend mocked him for his foolishness. Utterly devastated, Connor began the slow return to the Homestead. As he passed Monmouth, he discovered a battle being waged by the rebels and the British. Coming upon the force lead by Marquis de Lafayette, he learned that Charles Lee initially led the army in a reckless charge -- before suddenly turning right around and calling for a retreat, perfectly timed so that he got away while the British suddenly swarmed them from three directions. Connor manned a cannon to cover the rebel retreat, preserving hundreds of lives. They met up with Washington, and revealed Lee's odd behavior to him. Then, Connor turned his back on Washington, making it very clear that he would not deliver another victory to him. Two years later, Achilles fell ill, slowly dying. Connor told the old man about how the colonists had gained momentum, and the war now appeared to be in their favor. The man still held on to the hope that the Templars and Assassins could one day unite, but Achilles insisted that both Lee and Haytham needed to die. Planning to kill Lee, Connor met with Lafayette. Lee was holed up in Fort George in New York, nearly impenetrable even for an accomplished Assassin. Drawing on a tactic he had used in the past, Connor requested that Lafayette convince a portion of the French navy to sail into the bay, disguised as British ships, and begin shelling the Fort to cause chaos and confusion while Connor killed Lee. Lafayette agreed, but only if Connor would aid in the coming Battle of Chesapeake Bay. After an epic naval battle that saw the Aquila destroying dozens of British ships on its own, and Connor even destroying a Man O' War after his cannons were destroyed, he earned his ships. He returned from the battle to find that Achilles had died in his sleep. Reading a letter the man had written for him before his death, Connor was given all of his property, and Achilles admitted that he had given the man a sense of hope for the future. After burying Achilles and holding a funereal with all of the Homestead's residents, he promised to make him proud. Connor infiltrated Fort George and lit his signal. However, as he was making his move, a cannonball slammed down next to him, stunning and concussing him. Forced to withdraw and recover, Connor stumbled out only to come face to face with Haytham. His father, predicting Connor's movements, had gotten Lee moved from the Fort. A deadly clash followed, a still dazed Connor forced into a sword fight with his father, a man as deadly as he was. Still, it was an even struggle, and Haytham, in a last attempt to kill his son, pinned him to the ground. All it took was one hidden blade to the throat to end the battle. Realizing his number was up, Haytham managed to express some semblance of pride in his son before he perished. Knowing it was time to bring this all to an end, Connor shaved his hair into a mohawk and painted his face with war paint. While Charles Lee lead a funeral service for Haytham, Connor strolled right in, hood down and absolutely no concern for consequence. Lee, outraged by Haytham's death, told Connor that he would keep him alive so that he would be forced to watch as he destroyed everything he loved. Then, he had his guards drag him off, and they began to beat him once they weren't in the public eye. Connor used this chance to kill them and escape, tracking Lee down to Boston, where he planned to board a ship for Britain. As he approached Lee on the pier, he was noticed, and the Templar made a break for it. Connor pursued, practically ignoring the regulars that tried to stop him. Nothing was going to stop him now. Lee led the chase to a ship under construction that had caught aflame, and the two continued even in the perilous environment. Then, the floor collapsed beneath them, sending them both crashing to the floor below. Lee was only bruised and stunned, but Connor landed right on a piece of wood, stabbing himself in the chest. In excruciating pain, he managed to pull it out of his chest. Lee rose to his feet, and demanded to know why Connor continued to fight, even when everything fell apart around him. Answering that it was because no one else would, he shot Lee in the chest before blacking out. He awoke, sore, beaten, and alone. Making his way out of the ship, he learned that Lee had managed to escape, making his way to the countryside. Following, Connor found Lee in a tavern, his wound untreated, idly sipping away at a drink. Without exchanging words, Lee shared his drink with Connor, before the Assassin ended his life. He took a trinket that Haytham had given Lee, a trinket that he had been told by the spirit to obtain and hide in a place that no one would find it. The spirit gave him a parting message after he buried it in the grave of Achilles' son, telling him that he had fulfilled his purpose. A purpose he would never understand. When the Revolutionary War wrapped up, Connor found that Congress had sold the lands of his people without their consent, and he viewed how, even as the colonists forced the British to leave for oppressing them, the colonists themselves were selling slaves. Confused as to what his suffering amounted to and forced to live in a world only marginally better than what it had already been, he could do no more than continue to try and make the world a better place. Until, one day, he jumped into a bail of hay to hide from pursers, only to emerge out of a dumpster... Involvement Shortly after his arrival in the Multiverse, Connor received a job from the Lynx Blade in Patriot Earth to sabotage Arsenal Gear, in the possession of the U.S. Army. He later heard that, on the Pokémon World, the country of Unova was under the rule of Team Plasma, and the Lunar Shield put out a request for support in liberating it. Connor answered this call, as did Saber, Ancel, and Hilda. Lead by Ultra Magnus, Optimus Prime's second in command, and Bulkhead and Wheeljack, the group met up with Hilbert. After traversing through Chargeston Cave -- where Connor specifically killed a member of a Plasma grunt group to force Hilda and Hilbert to adjust to death -- they met up with Skyla and the resistance in Mistralton City. After everyone split up to wait for their next move, they were set upon by the Shadow Triad. Connor was targeted, but noticed his assassin and incapacitated him on his own. Hilbert, however, had been poisoned, and although he was healed, it left Connor with a burning rage to defeat Plasma. Afterwords, they used the Rift Bridge to reach Opelucid City. Bianca, a childhood friend of Hilda's, harshly lashed out at her for her sudden disappearance, reminding Connor of Kanen'tó:kon's final moments. He also spoke with a gym leader, Clay, where he expressed his hope that Unova would not be another America. Then, he was tasked to infiltrate Plasma's base with Wheeljack, Oshy, and Brycen. The four, aided by Hilda's Zoroark ShadowDancer, freed Plasma's prisoners and cleared access to their Pokemon stealing machine. After setting up trip mines to destroy the first responders, Connor wiped out two more groups of grunts, keeping them from reaching the machine room. As Hilbert slipped into N's throne room to confront the puppet king, Connor, cloaked with technology taken off of the Triad, followed. He saved the boy's life when Ghetsis tried to sic Unova's legendary dragons on him, and tried to encourage N into action by briefly recounting how he had been deceived himself. He fought a roughly even battle against Ghetsis' Drapion before gaining the upperhand and sending the Ogre Scorpion cowering, then stopped Hilbert when the boy, enraged by the apparent death of Rung, tried to kill Ghetsis. When Ghetsis was brought down and Unova was freed, Connor managed a small smile. After the liberation of Unova, Connor managed to return into obscurity. Despite some amount of fame from his efforts, only those directly involved in or closely associated with anyone in the Plasma Parade recalled him with regularity. He lived life quietly, taking small but profitable jobs. Secretly, he was harboring some distaste for the Celestial Guardians. While he approved of them in most areas, their ownership of the Eclipse Cannon -- a certified death weapon -- left him unnerved, in spite of the fact that it hadn't been used since well before his arrival to the Multiverse. Almost a year after Unova was freed, Connor encountered N while in the Hoenn region, as well as a friend of his named Kotone Shiomi. Along with a local trainer named Wally, the trio worked together to track and apprehend a pokemon thief that had fled to New Mauville. Along the way, Connor also met and befriended a shiny Greninja. After the thief was caught, the pokemon began to follow him. While the two have become companions, neither consider Connor to be Greninja's trainer. Eventually, the pair even teamed up with the Wreckers, along with Nami, Momohime, and Irelia to take down the Sol Collective in Mundis Crystallis. Connor's dislike of the Eclipse Cannon came to a head. Sigma, somehow, discovered or suspected his feelings on the matter. The Maverick Leader proposed that the assassin aid a strike team in eliminating the Cannon, and Connor found himself swayed to support him. While the Steel Claw struck a Lunar Shield prison, the strike team -- composed of Sigma, Connor and Greninja, Mima, Yuuka, and Marisa, and finally Mokou and Satori -- infiltrated the Space Colony ARK in disguise, aimed to destroy the cannon through any means possible. Powers and Capabilities Connor is a trained Assassin and a natural born hunter. He is a powerful runner, and despite being built like a tank, capable of enough acrobatic feats to run across buildings or even trees. With his Eagle Vision, he can pick out hostiles from civilians or allies, as well as his targets. It also grants him a slight clairvoyant ability, able to see how objects have been moved in the past. Connor is capable and skilled in using swords, knives, axes, and war clubs as weapons, though he's most comfortable with a tomahawk. He is also a deadly marksman, with either a bow or a pistol. He arms himself with a variety of tools, from rope darts to trip mines to poison darts. His hidden blades, useless in a straight fight but wonderful for stealth kills, let him tear apart entire forces without ever being noticed. When that fails, Connor is a brutal opponent in combat, keen senses and ambidexterity giving him a defense that's almost impossible to surpass, and a deadly ability to turn any offense into the perfect weapon. On a more minor note, he's an excellent captain, and a damn good entrepreneur, too. Followers Greninja A shiny Greninja that Connor met in the Pokemon World. Greninja never speaks, but he seems to be a mute by choice: He can be heard making grunts or other noises when stressed or pained, and the Assassin claims to have exchanged words in perfect English with him. This makes communication with him rather tricky for most, but he and Connor have perfected the art of non-verbal communication. Even telepathy doesn't get him to open up. Any mental conversations with him will be concise and brief. Even Connor admits he doesn't quite know what Greninja aims to do in life, or what his morals are. He tends to go along with whatever Connor says and does. One thing is for sure, however: The frog has a delight in combat. He enjoys getting into tussles, honing his skills and bringing his foes to his knees. While he can use stealth when appropriate, he overall prefers to jump right into the thick of things, throwing attacks out by the dozen. Greninja possesses the Protean ability, and he uses it to incredible effect. Whenever he changes his type, his biology shifts to match it. When an Ice-type his skin becomes like ice, when a Ghost-type he becomes ethereal, etc etc. He has no less than five different types he switches between during combat. Along with the moves of the types themselves, Greninja utilizes his speed, powerful martial arts, and conjuring various ninja weapons out of the elements his type thrives on. The end result is a speedy and overwhelming, if frail, combatant, in contrast to Connor's cautious and counter-focused strategy. Quotes * "I realize now that it will take time. That the road is long and shrouded in darkness. It is a road that will not always take me where I wish to go. But I will travel down it, nonetheless." * "Enjoy this victory, Commander. For it is the last I will deliver to you." -- To George Washington, after the Battle of Monmouth. * "I cannot promise you that. Even if I made that promise, I might find myself in a position where I must choose between that promise, or saving you and your people. And no amount of promises could keep me from going that far for you." -- Connor responding to Clay asking Connor to stay safe. * "Norris is trying to court a woman. What do...you women like? ...In terms of gifts?" -- Connor trying to get advice for a friend. Awkwardly. Trivia * Connor was the first Native American to join the Assassin Brotherhood. * Connor is often given the surname Kenway, as his father was Haytham Kenway. Connor never canonically uses this name, and considering it's the name of his enemy, it is for good reason. If he ever needed to use a surname, he most likely borrowed Achilles', Davenport. * While most notable Assassins are connected to avians, Connor is more commonly connected to wolves. * Amusingly, the player got a Shiny Greninja by pure luck after the release of Pokemon Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire, months after Greninja was obtained as a follower. He got a Shiny Froakie through breeding. And yes, it does have Protean. See also * Plasma Parade External links * Davenport Manor (Storage Topic) * Connor on the Assassin's Creed wiki Category:Player Characters